Ash tray attachment



W L Wfifi a. mumm ASH TRAY ATTACHMENT Filed Oct. 19, 1955 INVENTOR.BEAT/Wes BUTLER ATTORNEYS United States Patent ASH TRAY ATTACHMENTBeatrice Butler, San Francisco, (lalif.

Application October 19, 1953, Serial No. 336,765

1 Claim. (Cl. 131 235) This invention relates to an ash tray attachment.

The primary object of this invention is to provide an attachment for anash tray, or a saucer, for holding burning cigarettes and forextinguishing burning butts.

Another object of this invention is to provide an attachment for an ashtray which permits to discharge the butts placed thereinto onto the ashtray.

Other objects and advantages will appear as the specification proceedsand the novel features of the device will be particularly pointed out inthe claim hereto annexed.

In this specification and the annexed drawing, the invention isillustrated in the form considered to be the best, but it is understoodthat the invention is not limited to such form.

This invention is illustrated in an accompanying drawing in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational view of the attachment, partly in section,secured to an ash tray also shown in section.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of Fig. 1, dotted lines showing the butt holder ina butt discharging position, some parts being shown broken off forbetter disclosure of the mechanism of the attachment, the ash tray beingomitted; and

Fig. 3 is a side view of the attachment with the butt holder in adischarging position.

In detail, my attachment consists of a vertical shaft 1 at the lower endof which is secured a vacuum suction cup 2 by which said attachment isremovably secured to a tray 3. The suction cup 2 is covered by a metalcover 4 secured to said shaft 1 on the top of said cup 2 by a nut 6. Thecover 4 protects rubber cup 2 from direct contact with burning butts.The lower edge of the cover 4 is very close to the ash tray 3 andtherefore even a slight movement of the shaft 1 from its normal verticalposition brings said edge and the ash tray in contact, thus preventingfurther swinging of the shaft 1.

The shaft 1 carries a collar some distance above the nut 6. Said collar10 supports a strip 11 preferably made of metal, which is secured to theshaft 1 by soldering or otherwise.

The strip 11 extends at right angles to said shaft 1 on both sidesthereof a certain distance and each end 12 of said strip terminates witha cigarette holder 14, which consists of a pair of upper fingers 15 bentabove a central finger 16. A cigarette 17 may be placed between saidfingers 15 and 16 and will be held there as shown in Figs. 1 and 3 indotted lines.

A butt holder 20 is normally supported on the strip 11 and is preferablymade of transparent plastic material representing an elongatedrectangular parallelopiped having a central hole 21 through which theshaft 1 freely passes. A plurality of cigarette butt compartments 22 arearranged in said holder 20. Each of said compartments 22 represents acylindrical passage through said block parallel to the hole 21, and eachof said passages is of a diameter slightly larger than that of acigarette. The compartments 22 may have their ingress orifices "icecountersunk, as shown at 24 for the purpose of making the insertion of acigarette butt into said compartment easier. Due to the fact that thebutt holder 20 rests on the strip 11, all the compartments 22 are closedthereby at the bottom. A cigarette butt 25 inserted in a cornpartment 22rests on the strip 11 and stays there until the butt holder is swungabout the shaft. away from the strip 11, whereupon the cigarette butts25 being deprived of the support of the strip 11, fall out of saidcompartments onto the ash tray 3.

A simple mechanism 27 is provided for the purpose of returning the buttholder 20 to its normal position over the strip 1.1 shown in Fig. 1.This mechanism consists of an angular plate 30 arranged on the strip 11about the shaft 1. The angular plate 30 is secured to the strip 11 andis made somewhat narrower than said strip. The butt holder 21} has acorresponding angular indentation 31 on the bottom side thereof, whichindentation extends across the middle of said holder. The angular plate30 fits into said indentation and prevents accidental rotation of saidbutt holder 20 in relation to said strip 11. in order to discharge thecigarette butts 25 from said butt holder onto the ash tray 3, the buttholder is swung around the shaft 1 against the resistance of the angularplate 3t? fitted in the indentation 311. When the butt holder 20 isswung out of its normal position as shown in Fig. 1, it rises up and thesides of the angular indentation 31 ride on the corners of the angularplate 3t if the butt holder 20 is stopped at right angles to the strip11, as shown in Fig. 3, the upper corners of the angular plate 30 abutthe sides of the angular indentation 31 on the central vertical planepassing through the center of the shaft 1 and thus the holder 2d becomesbalanced on said angular plate 30. But a slight motion of said buttholder 26 either way from the position shown in Fig. 3, will upset saidbalance: the sides of the angular indentation will slide on the cornersof the plate 30, and the butt holder 26 will return to its normalposition by gravity. Hence, the butt holder 20 will return to its normalposition automatically after each discharge of the cigarette butts;except when said butt holder 20 is brought into the position shown inFig. 3.

The top of the shaft 1 is covered by a nut 35 which is a certaindistance above said butt holder for the purpose of allowing the latterto travel upward while the same is swung about the shaft 1.

I claim:

An ash tray attachment comprising a shaft, means for removably securingsaid shaft to an ashtray, a horizontal strip secured to said shaft, abutt holder swingable about said shaft above said strip and normallyresting on the same, said holder having compartments therein extendingtherethrough for admitting cigarette butts thereinto; and an angularplate arranged on the strip about the shaft, said butt holder having anangular indentation extending across the same, said angular plateentering said indentation and holding said butt holder aligned with saidstrip.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS276,336 Baumeister Apr. 24, 1883 846,662 Godward Mar. 12, 1907 1,147,102Knabe July 20, 1915 2,156,738 Ryan M May 2, 1939 2,280,543 Saunders Apr.21, 194-2 FOREIGN PATENTS 9, 348 Austria 1909 179,477 Great Britain May11, 1922 468,541 Great Britain July 7, 1937

